Potential Use of Petroleum-based Sulfur in Rubber Industry

AbstractPotential use of petroleum-based sulfur generally classified as a by-product from refinery process is investigated as vulcanizing agent in rubber, and compared with commercial rhombic sulfur. Styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and nitrile rubber (NBR) are used as rubber matrices. Results obtained show that, between 2 types of sulfurs, the SBR system reveals similarity in cure behaviors whereas the NBR system demonstrates faster cure behavior when vulcanized by petroleum-based sulfur. However, rheological properties, mechanical properties, and dynamic mechanical properties of both rubbers show comparable results regardless of sulfur type. The results suggest the strong potential utilization of petroleum-based sulfur as vulcanizing agent as an alternative to the commercial rhombic sulfur usually used in rubber vulcanization

Performance of treated distillate aromatic extract oil-coated petroleum-based sulfur on properties of natural rubber/acrylonitrile butadiene rubber blends

Petroleum-based sulfur is one of the sulfur types used in rubber vulcanization. The use of such sulfur still faces poor dispersion in the rubber matrix especially in acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) and its blends. The use of oil as a dispersing agent acts as a key factor to improve the dispersibility of the sulfur. The effects of treated distillate aromatic extract (TDAE) oilcoated petroleum-based sulfur on the properties of natural rubber/acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NR/NBR) blends were studied. In this work, sulfur was coated with 20 wt% TDAE-oil and then the effects on the properties of NR/ NBR blends were investigated. The results revealed that the TDAE oil-coated sulfur offered a significant improvement in sulfur dispersion without significant changes in cure behaviors which led to an enhancement of mechanical properties